Selena Gomez & the Scene

Selena Gomez & the Scene is an American pop band formed in Hollywood, California in 2008. Along with lead singer and founder Selena Gomez, the band consists of guitarist Ethan Roberts, bassist Joey Clement, drummer Greg Garman, and keyboardist Dane Forrest. Selena Gomez & the Scene have released two studio albums, five singles, music videos and other appearances. The band released their debut album, Kiss & Tell on September 29, 2009. The album debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200 and in March 2010 the album was certified gold by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The second single from the album, "Naturally", reached the top thirty in the US, and the top twenty in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and Germany. The song has also been certified platinum in Canada. Their second album, A Year Without Rain was released on September 17, 2010. Two singles were released from the album, "Round & Round" and "A Year Without Rain". The album debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number 4. It was also certified Gold by the RIAA in January 2011.
Their third album, When the Sun Goes Down will be released on June 28, 2011. The first single from the album is titled "Who Says", which debuted on March 8, 2011 on On Air with Ryan Seacrest. The music video premiered March 11 on the Disney Channel. The single was released on March 14. Gomez announced in an interview that the second single from the album is "Love You Like A Love Song" and she is hoping to promote it on a show with "Who Says". It will be released June 21, 2011.

Tags: dance-pop, electropop, pop, pop punk, pop rock

Train

Train is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1994. The band currently comprises a core trio of Patrick Monahan (vocals), Jimmy Stafford (guitar, vocals) and Scott Underwood (drums, percussion).
Train, with a line-up that included original members Rob Hotchkiss and Charlie Colin, as well as Monahan, Stafford and Underwood, achieved mainstream success with their debut album, Train, which was released in 1998 with the hit "Meet Virginia". Their second album, Drops of Jupiter (2001), brought the band massive popularity. The lead single from the album, "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)", was an international hit and won two Grammy Awards in 2002. The album was certified double platinum in the United States and Canada and remains the band's best-selling album to date.
Their third studio album, My Private Nation, released in 2003, continued the band's success, and was certified platinum in the United States with the hit "Calling All Angels". Following the departures of Hotchkiss and Colin, the band released their fourth album, For Me, It's You in 2006, with Johnny Colt on bass and Brandon Bush on keys. Despite a generally positive reception from critics, the album was commercially unsuccessful. Train then went on a three-year hiatus.
Returning in late 2009 with their returning-to-roots record Save Me, San Francisco, Train has more than regained their former success with three of their singles off the album — the RIAA 5x Multi-Platinum certified international hit "Hey, Soul Sister", "If It's Love" and "Marry Me" — reaching and long holding high positions on the Billboard Hot 100, #3, #34, and #34 respectively. The album itself has been certified Gold by both the RIAA and ARIA and is currently closing in on Platinum status. Since May 2009, Hector Maldonado (bass, guitar, vocals, percussion) and Jerry Becker (keyboards, guitar) have been touring and recording with the group around the world.

Tags: pop rock, Rock, roots rock

Kanye West

Kanye West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synth-pop, and classical music.
West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. His five albums, all of which have gone platinum, have received numerous awards and critical acclaim. As of 2011, West is the most honored rapper in Grammy history with a total of fourteen awards. All albums have been very commercially successful, with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy becoming his fourth consecutive #1 album in the U.S. upon release. As of May 2011, West currently has 4 songs above the 3 million mark with "Gold Digger" selling 3,086,000, "Stronger" selling 4,363,000, "Heartless" selling 3,742,000 and "E.T." selling 3,157,000 making him the top selling male digital artist of all time.
West also runs his own record label GOOD Music, home to artists such as John Legend, Common and Kid Cudi. West's mascot and trademark is "Dropout Bear," a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of three of his five albums as well as various single covers and music videos.

Tags: hip hop, rap

Shakira

Shakira is a singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, and philanthropist who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira revealed many of her talents in school as a live performer, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll, Latin and Middle Eastern influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English and Portuguese as well as some Italian, French and Arabic.
After commercial flops with local producers on her first two albums, and being little-known outside Colombia, Shakira decided to produce her own brand of music. In 1995 she released Pies Descalzos, which brought her great fame in Latin America and Spain, and her 1998 album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? was a critical success selling over 7 million copies worldwide. In 2001, aided by the worldwide success of her first English single "Whenever, Wherever" that became the best selling single of 2002, she broke through into the English-speaking world with the release of Laundry Service, which sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Four years later, Shakira released two album projects called Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2. Both reinforced her success, particularly with the best selling song of the 2000s, "Hips Don't Lie".
She has won two Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, twelve Billboard Latin Music Awards and has been Golden Globe-nominated.
In the fall of 2009, Shakira released her sixth album She Wolf worldwide. Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", was chosen as the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The song has received generally positive critical reception, and has become a worldwide smash hit and the biggest selling World Cup song of all time. Her seventh studio album, the bilingual Sale el Sol, was released October 2010 and has shipped over 4 million copies worldwide.

Tags: dance, electronic, pop, pop rock, world

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Grace Potter and The Nocturnals is an American rock band from Waitsfield, Vermont. They gained international attention by selling out tours and stealing hearts of audiences across America.
Their recent album Grace Potter and the Nocturnals was released on June 8, 2010.
Leading the charge is Grace Potter, whose dynamic vocal ability has drawn comparisons to legends Bonnie Raitt, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin and more recently Sheryl Crow and Joan Osborne. Her unique style behind the Hammond B-3 and piano got widespread recognition. The original lineup included Scott Tournet (guitar/slide guitar), Matthew Burr (drums/percussion), and Bryan Dondero (upright/electric bass).
After Dondero parted ways with the Nocturnals in March 2009, they brought in Catherine Popper (bass) and also added Benny Yurco (rhythm guitar).

Tags: blues, Folk rock, Hard rock, roots rock

Three Days Grace

Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992, originally under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in the same year under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer and backing vocalist Neil Sanderson, and bassist Brad Walst. In 2003, Barry Stock was recruited as the band's lead guitarist. The band is based in Toronto.
After signing to Jive Records, Three Days Grace has released three studio albums: Three Days Grace(2003), One-X(2006), and Life Starts Now(2009). The albums have been certified platinum, double platinum, and gold, respectively, in the United States.

Tags: alternative, alternative metal, alternative rock, Hard rock, post-grunge, Rock

Nirvana

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting being Dave Grohl, who joined the band in 1990.
In the late 1980s Nirvana established itself as part of the Seattle grunge scene, releasing its first album Bleach for the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. The band eventually came to develop a sound that relied on dynamic contrasts, often between quiet verses and loud, heavy choruses. After signing to major label DGC Records, Nirvana found unexpected success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the first single from the band's second album Nevermind (1991). Nirvana's sudden success widely popularized alternative rock as a whole, and as the band's frontman Cobain found himself referred to in the media as the "spokesman of a generation", with Nirvana being considered the "flagship band" of Generation X. Nirvana's third studio album In Utero (1993), challenged the group's audience, featuring an abrasive, less-mainstream sound.
Nirvana's brief run ended following the suicide of Cobain in 1994, but various posthumous releases have been issued since, overseen by Novoselic, Grohl, and Cobain's widow Courtney Love. Since its debut, the band has sold over 25 million albums in the United States alone, and over 50 million worldwide.